Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
  • B60R21/013—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
  • B60R21/0132—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over responsive to vehicle motion parameters, e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
  • B60R21/017—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including arrangements for providing electric power to safety arrangements or their actuating means, e.g. to pyrotechnic fuses or electro-mechanic valves
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
  • B60R2021/01122—Prevention of malfunction
  • B60R2021/01184—Fault detection or diagnostic circuits
  • B60R2021/0119—Plausibility check
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
  • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
  • B60R21/33—Arrangements for non-electric triggering of inflation

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an occupant protection activation device that activates an occupant protection device such as an air bag or a seat belt pretensioner that protects an occupant when a vehicle collides.
• a conventional occupant protection activation device includes two front sensors installed at the front end of a vehicle, a safe circuit that detects a signal of each front sensor force and makes a safe judgment, and a front sensor force It is equipped with a G sensor located at the location and a microcomputer that judges collision based on the output of the front sensor. If the safening determination circuit determines that the front sensor has detected a collision, it inputs a signal indicating that a collision has been detected to the AND circuit. At this time, the microcomputer that has input the G sensor detection signal outputs the signal determined to have collided to the NAND circuit. The AND circuit to which these signals are input opens the gate, current is supplied to the squib and the air nog is activated.
• the microcomputer of the occupant protection activation device makes a safety determination to prevent malfunction based on detection signals output from a plurality of sensors, and determines whether or not the force is sufficient to activate the airbag (for example, , See Patent Document 1).
• Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-237529 (Page 4, FIG. 2, FIG. 3)
• the determination means such as a microcomputer that determines the presence or absence of a collision is connected to a sensor installed at the front end of the vehicle due to the collision. When it is disconnected, there is a problem that it is difficult to accurately determine the collision due to the safety determination that prevents malfunction, and the occupant protection device cannot be activated when the vehicle collides.
• the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is intended to prevent malfunctions.
• the purpose is to obtain an occupant protection activation device that activates the occupant protection device even when a sensor installed at the front end of the vehicle is disconnected due to a collision while performing a wing determination.
• An occupant protection activation device includes a collision determination unit that performs a collision determination using at least one output signal of the first vehicle interior acceleration sensor or the tip portion acceleration sensor, and the first vehicle interior acceleration.
• First safeness determination means for performing safeness determination using the output signal of the sensor, and first safeness determination using at least one output signal of the second vehicle interior acceleration sensor or the tip acceleration sensor.
• Driving means for driving the starting means of the occupant protection device by the product.
• the collision determination means for performing a collision determination using at least one output signal of the first vehicle interior acceleration sensor or the tip portion acceleration sensor, and the first vehicle interior acceleration sensor A first safe judgment means for performing a safe judgment using an output signal; and a second safe judgment for performing a safe judgment using at least one output signal of the second vehicle interior acceleration sensor or the tip acceleration sensor.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
• the illustrated occupant protection activation device for example, activates an airbag as an occupant protection device, and is a front G sensor (front end acceleration sensor) of an electronic acceleration sensor installed at, for example, a central portion of a front end portion of a vehicle 1 And an airbag Electronic Control Unit (hereinafter referred to as ECU) 2 that controls the activation of the airbag (not shown), and a squib (activation means) 3 such as an ignition device that instantly inflates the airbag.
• ECU airbag Electronic Control Unit
• squib activation means
• an occupant protection device such as a seat belt pretensioner that tightens the seat belt may be activated.
• the airbag ECU 2 is installed in the vehicle interior of the vehicle, and a safety G sensor (second vehicle interior acceleration sensor) 5 having, for example, a mechanical acceleration sensor force, and an electronic acceleration sensor inside the unit casing
• a safety G sensor second vehicle interior acceleration sensor
• An analog G sensor first in-vehicle acceleration sensor
• a microcomputer signal processing means, hereinafter abbreviated as a microcomputer
• an application specific integrated circuit hereinafter referred to as a safing judgment circuit
• ASIC (Referred to as ASIC) (1) 8, ASIC (2) 9 that drives squib 3 based on the output signals of microcomputer 7 and ASIC (1) 8, and power supply circuit that supplies squib 3 drive power 10 And a transistor switch 11 having, for example, a P-channel field effect transistor power for turning on and off the current supply of the power supply circuit 10 force.
• the airbag ECU 2 includes the determination means including the microcomputer 7 and the A SIC (1) 8 that perform the collision determination and the safety determination, and the ASIC (2) 9 and the transistor switch that control the current supplied to the squib 3. And 11 driving means.
• the microcomputer 7 includes the safening determination means 12 for inputting the output signal of the safening G sensor 5, the guard determination means 13 for inputting the output signal of the front G sensor 1, the output signal and the guard determination of the safening determination means 12 OR operation to output logical sum of output signals of means 13 Arithmetic means (hereinafter, the OR operation means is referred to as OR means) 14 is provided.
• the output signal of the OR means 14 is input to the gate of the transistor switch 11.
• the source of the transistor switch 11 is connected to the power supply circuit 10 and the drain is connected to the ASIC (2) 9.
• the microcomputer 7 also includes an output signal from the front collision determination means 15 for inputting the output signal of the front G sensor 1, an ECU collision determination means 16 for inputting the output signal of the analog G sensor 6, and an output signal of the front collision determination means 15 And an OR means 17 for outputting a logical sum of the output signal of the ECU collision judging means 16.
• the output signal of the OR means 17 is input to the AND operation means (hereinafter referred to as AND means) 18 of the ASIC (2) 9.
• the microcomputer 7 includes the safening determination means 12, the guard determination means 13, and the OR means 14 for performing the safening determination that also includes the force, the front collision determination means 15, the ECU collision determination means 16, and the OR means. And a means for performing a collision determination consisting of 17.
• ASIC (2) 9 is an integrated circuit that drives squib 3, that is, a squib driver, and outputs a logical product of the output signal of ASIC (1) 8 and the output signal of OR means 17 AND.
• Means 18, and a non-side transistor switch 19 and a low-side transistor switch 20 for inputting the output signal of the AND means 18 to the gate are provided.
• the high-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor switch 20 are composed of, for example, an N-channel field effect transistor force, and an output signal representing the logical product of the AND means 18 is input to the gate of each transistor as described above.
• the high side transistor switch 19 has, for example, a drain connected to the drain of the transistor switch 11, and a source of the high side transistor switch 19 connected to one end of the squib 3.
• the drain is connected to the other end of the squib 3, and the source is grounded.
• the transistor switch 11 is connected in series to the high-side transistor switch 19 as described above, and turns ON / OFF the connection between the power supply circuit 10 and the ASIC (2) 9.
• the occupant protection activation device determines a vehicle collision from the acceleration detected by the front G sensor 1 and the analog G sensor 6, and also detects the front G sensor 1, the safing G sensor 5, and the analog G sensor. Acceleration force detected by 6 Performs a safety judgment to prevent the airbag from malfunctioning.
• the acceleration detected by each sensor This is the collision acceleration that occurs in the vehicle. In the following description, acceleration refers to collision acceleration.
• the front G sensor 1 is installed at the front end of the vehicle so that it can quickly detect a collision that requires the airbag to start, and the analog G sensor 6 and the safety G sensor 5 Since the connection wiring of the front G sensor 1 may be disconnected when the vehicle body is damaged, it is installed near the center of the vehicle in the front-rear direction, for example, in the unit of the airbag ECU 2 in the passenger compartment.
• an electronic acceleration sensor is used for the front G sensor 1 and the analog G sensor 6.
• the electronic acceleration sensor outputs a signal corresponding to the magnitude of the detected acceleration, and these front G sensor 1 and analog G sensor 6 have a certain magnitude such as the maximum acceleration at the time of collision. It is possible to detect the acceleration within a certain range that occurs in the vehicle just by detecting the acceleration of the vehicle.
• the collision determination is performed by the front collision determination means 15 and the ECU collision determination means 16 provided in the microcomputer 7, and the presence or absence of a collision is determined by the logical sum of the determination results of the front collision determination means 15 and the ECU collision determination means 16. Determined.
• the output signal of the front G sensor 1 is input to the guard determination means 13 and the front collision determination means 15.
• the guard determination means 13 and the front collision determination means 15 determine the output signal of the front G sensor 1 using different threshold values.
• the front collision determination means 15 determines the output signal of the front G sensor 1 using a threshold value larger than that of the guard determination means 13, and does this output signal indicate the acceleration caused by the collision that should deploy the airbag? Determine whether or not.
• the output signal of the analog G sensor 6 is input to the ASIC (1) 8 and the ECU collision determination means 16 which are composed of a safety determination circuit.
• the ASIC (1) 8 and the ECU collision determination means 16 determine the output signal of the analog G sensor 6 using different threshold values.
• the ECU collision determination means 16 uses a larger threshold than that of the ASIC (1) 8 to determine the output signal of the analog G sensor 6, and this output signal indicates the acceleration caused by the collision that should deploy the airbag. Determine whether or not.
• the OR means 17 inputs the output signals of the front collision determination means 15 and the ECU collision determination means 16, and outputs a collision determination signal indicating the logical sum of these output signals. Like this When one or both of the determination result of the event collision determination means 15 and the determination result of the ECU collision determination means 16 indicate that a collision has occurred, a collision determination signal indicating significance is output from the OR means 17, that is, from the microcomputer 7.
• the safety judgment that prevents malfunction of the airbag, that is, malfunction of the squib 3, is performed by the safety judgment means 12 and the guard judgment means 13 provided in the microcomputer 7. Further, the safety judgment means Judgment is made by calculating the logical sum of the judgment results of 12 and guard judgment means 13. In addition to the judgment operation of microcomputer 7, safe judgment by ASIC (1) 8 is performed. That is, the safe judgment is performed for each of the plurality of IC chips.
• the output signal of the analog G sensor 6 is input to the ECU collision determination means 16 and also to the ASIC (1) 8 as described above.
• the ASIC (1) 8 is an integrated circuit that forms a safeguarding judgment circuit as described above, and generates an output signal from the analog G sensor 6 that generates a small acceleration compared to the impact generated during a vehicle collision, i.e., the acceleration generated during a collision.
• a safening signal (1) indicating significance is output.
• the threshold used when determining whether or not the force that makes the safening signal (1) significant is smaller than the threshold used for the collision determination in the ECU collision determination means 16. In this way, by using a small threshold value in the safe judgment, it is possible to reliably detect that the vehicle has collided.
• the ASIC (1) 8 Since the ASIC (1) 8 is a separate element from the microcomputer 7, even if a failure occurs in the microcomputer 7 and affects the judgment operations of the safety judgment means 12, the guard judgment means 13, etc., The safening signal (1) output from the ASIC (1) 8 is not affected. Therefore, even if the collision judgment signal and the safening signal (2) are output as if a collision was detected when the vehicle was not actually colliding due to a fault that occurred in the microcomputer 7, the safening signal (1 ) Does not show significance, it can prevent malfunction of the squib 3, that is, malfunction of the airbag.
• the output signal of the front G sensor 1 is input to the front collision determination means 15 as described above. And input to the guard determination means 13. As described above, the guard determination means 13 is smaller than the front collision determination means 15 and uses a threshold value, and performs the safening determination from the magnitude of the acceleration sensed by the front G sensor 1.
• the safety G sensor 5 installed in the unit of the airbag ECU 2 together with the analog G sensor 6 is, for example, a mechanical acceleration sensor force, and a signal indicating significance when an acceleration of a predetermined magnitude or more is detected.
• a signal indicating significance is outputted to the safeness judgment means 12.
• the safening judgment means 12 judges whether or not the safety G sensor 5 senses the small acceleration as described above, and outputs a signal indicating significance to the OR means 14 when judged that the acceleration is sensed. .
• Each of the guard determination means 13 and the safening determination means 12 outputs a signal indicating significance when each sensor force detects an acceleration smaller than the acceleration at the time of the vehicle collision.
• the threshold used when the guard determining means 13 determines whether or not the output signal is significant is smaller than the threshold used by the front collision determining means 15 for the collision determination.
• the threshold used when the safety judging means 12 judges whether or not the output signal is significant is smaller than the threshold used in the collision judgment of the ECU collision judging means 16. . In this way, by setting the safe determination threshold value smaller than the collision determination threshold value, the vehicle collision is reliably detected.
• the output signal of the safening determination means 12 and the output signal of the guard determination means 13 are input to the OR means 14 and the logical sum of these output signals is obtained.
• the OR means 14 indicates that the safety signal indicating significance. Output (2).
• the ASIC (2) 9 inputs the safening signal (1) and the collision determination signal.
• the AND means 18 of the ASI C (2) 9 inputs the safety signal (1) from the ASIC (1) 8 and the collision determination signal from the OR means 17 of the microcomputer 7.
• the AND means 18 obtains a logical product of the safening signal (1) and the collision determination signal, and inputs an output signal indicating the logical product to the gates of the high-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor switch 20, and the high-side transistor switch. Controls ONZOFF operation of 19 and low side transistor switch 20.
• the high-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor switch 20 are simultaneously controlled to be in an ON state or an OFF state, and simultaneously turn ON and OFF the connection between the power circuit 10 and the squib 3 and the ground connection of the squib 3.
• the high-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor switch 20 are turned on when both the safening signal (1) and the collision determination signal are significant.
• the safening signal (2) is input to the gate of the transistor switch (semiconductor switch) 11 connected to the power supply circuit 10, and the ONZOFF operation of the transistor switch 11 is performed according to the result of the safeness judgment by the microcomputer 7. Controlled.
• the transistor switch 11 When the safening signal (2) shows significance, the transistor switch 11 is controlled to be in the ON state, and the power supply current flows from the power supply circuit 10 to the ASIC (2) 9 and is supplied to the high side transistor switch 19. The At this time, if the non-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor switch 20 are controlled to be in the ON state by the output signal of the AND means 18, as described above, the driving current is output from the ASIC (2) 9. The When a drive current flows through the squib 3, an ignition operation is performed to explode and inflate the airbag.
• the safe judgment means 12 judges whether or not the output signal of the safing G sensor 5 shows a smaller acceleration than that at the time of the collision as described above.
• the acceleration is A signal indicating detection is output.
• the determination is made using a threshold value that detects an acceleration smaller than the acceleration detected by the front collision determination unit 15 or the ECU collision determination unit 16, and the output signal of the safe G sensor 5 is determined to be larger than this threshold value.
• a signal indicating significance is output to the OR means 14.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a force including only one front G sensor 1.
• this front G sensor for example, two front G sensors R and L are provided as shown by dotted lines in FIG. It may be installed on both the left and right sides of the front end of the vehicle.
• the front collision determination means 15 is a signal indicating significance when a large acceleration at the time of collision is detected from the output signals of at least one front G sensor 1 on the left and right. Is output to the OR means 17 and the guard judging means 13 is significant when detecting an acceleration smaller than the acceleration at the time of collision as described above from the output signals of at least one front G sensor 1 on the left and right.
• the indicated signal is output to the OR means 14.
• the collision judgment of the microcomputer 7 is a collision judgment signal indicating significance when the acceleration caused by the collision is detected from at least one output signal of the front G sensors R and L and the analog G sensor 6.
• at least one output signal force of the front G sensors R and L and the safe G sensor 5 is a safing signal (2 ) Is output.
• the microcomputer 7 outputs at least one output signal force of the front G sensor 1 and the analog G sensor 6 and outputs a collision determination signal indicating significance when detecting acceleration due to the collision.
• at least one output signal force of front G sensor 1 and safe G sensor 5 detects an acceleration smaller than the acceleration due to the collision, it outputs a safe signal (2) that shows significance
• ASIC (1) 8 Output signal of analog G sensor 6 Forced safety signal (1) is output when acceleration smaller than the acceleration due to collision is detected.
• ASIC (2) 9 detects collision with safety signal (1) When both signals show significance, the high-side transistor switch 19 and the low-side transistor 20 are controlled to be in the ON state, so the front G sensor 1 is disconnected during a collision. There is an effect that the airbag can be surely activated even at times.
• front G sensor 1, safe G sensor 5, analog G sensor 6, microcomputer 7, etc. When any one of these problems occurs, there is an effect that the malfunction of the airbag can be surely prevented.
• the ASIC (2) 9 in which the high-side transistor switch 19, the low-side transistor switch 20, and the AND means 18 are integrated through the transistor switch 11, the ASIC ( 2) Even if a fault occurs in 9 etc., current is not supplied to squib 3 by mistake, which has the effect of preventing malfunction of the airbag.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
• the same reference numerals are used for parts that are the same as or equivalent to those shown in FIG. 1, and descriptions thereof are omitted.
• the microcomputer 7a shown in FIG. 2 includes the AND means 21 for inputting the safening signal (2) output from the OR means 14 and the collision determination signal output from the OR means 17 in FIG.
• the configuration is similar to the microcomputer 7 shown.
• the air bag ECU 2a in FIG. 2 is configured so that the safety signal (3) output from the microcomputer 7a, specifically, the AND means 21 is input to the gate of the transistor switch 11. This is similar to the airbag ECU 2 shown in FIG.
• the description of the same components as those described in Embodiment 1 is omitted.
• the operation of the ASIC (1) 8 that performs the safe judgment by inputting the output signal of the analog G sensor 6 is the same as that described in the first embodiment.
• the AND means 21 outputs a safening signal (3) indicating significance when a safening signal (2) indicating significance and a collision determination signal indicating significance are input.
• the microcomputer 7a outputs a collision determination signal and a safening signal (3).
• the transistor switch 11 inputs the safening signal (3) output from the AND means 21 to the gate, and becomes ON when the safening signal (3) is significant. Supply the power supply current output from 10 to ASIC (2) 9.
• the ASIC (2) 9 receives the collision judgment signal output from the microcomputer 7a and the safening signal (1) output from the ASIC (l) 8 in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. When these signals are both significant, the high side transistor switch 19 and the low side transistor switch 20 are turned on, and the drive current is output to the squib 3.
• the microcomputer 7a receives the safety signal (2) output from the OR means 14 and the collision determination signal output from the OR means 17 and performs a logical AND operation.
• AND means 21 is required, and the operation of transistor switch 11 is controlled by the safening signal (3) output from AND means 21. Therefore, front G sensor 1, safety G sensor 5, analog G If any one of the sensor 6, the microcomputer 7a, etc. fails, the malfunction of the airbag can be prevented more reliably.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an occupant protection activation device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
• the same reference numerals are used for parts that are the same as or equivalent to those shown in FIG. I will omit the description.
• the airbag ECU 2b shown in FIG. 3 inputs the safety signal (1) output from the ASIC (1) 8 to the gate of the transistor switch 11 and also outputs the safety signal (2) output from the OR means 14.
• Is configured to be input to the NAND unit 18 together with the collision determination signal output from the OR unit 17, and is configured in the same manner as the airbag ECU 2 shown in FIG.
• a description of parts that are the same as those described in Embodiment 1 is omitted.
• the ONZOFF operation of the transistor switch 11 of the airbag ECU 2b shown in FIG. 3 is controlled by the safening signal (1) output from the ASIC (1) 8. That is, when the safe (1) signal shows significance, the power supply current is supplied from the power supply circuit 10 to the ASIC (2) 9.
• the AND means 18 of the ASIC (2) 9 is high when the safing signal (2) output from the OR means 14 of the microcomputer 7 and the collision judgment signal output from the OR means 17 are both significant. Controls transistor switch 19 and low-side transistor switch 20 to ON. Other operations are the same as those of the airnog ECU 2 of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment.
• the microcomputer 7 outputs the collision determination signal and the safening signal (2) to the ASIC (2) 9, and the ASIC (1) 8 outputs the safening signal. Since (1) is output to the gate of the transistor switch 11, there is an effect that the airbag can be reliably activated even when the front G sensor 1 is disconnected in the event of a collision.
• the occupant protection activation device activates an occupant protection device such as an air bag or a seat belt pretensioner that protects the occupant in the event of a vehicle collision.
• an occupant protection device such as an air bag or a seat belt pretensioner that protects the occupant in the event of a vehicle collision.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Air Bags (AREA)
• Automotive Seat Belt Assembly (AREA)

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• 2004
  • 2004-10-05 JP JP2004292883A patent/JP4429860B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2005
  • 2005-07-01 US US10/580,566 patent/US7359780B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-07-01 WO PCT/JP2005/012234 patent/WO2006038355A1/ja active Application Filing
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